Swollen

Both of my ankles are extremely swollen and I’m sitting here with a bag of frozen corn on the left ankle and an ice pack on the right one. The right ankle is especially huge, and I’m trying to not freak out. They’ve never been like this before, so it is worrying. And of course I made the stupid mistake of trying to find some information online. After typing “What causes swollen ankles?” into Google, I was immediately bombarded with a million posts warning of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, lupus, kidney failure, etc. etc. So now of course I think I’m suffering from all of those afflictions (at once) and that I’m probably dying. Umm, anyway. I guess I will give this a couple days before going into any sort of panic mode. But once again I’m faced with the frustration of something going wrong with my body and not knowing if it’s from the RA or something else. I’ve learned how to deal with the “devil(s) I know,” but find myself feeling incredibly anxious and scared when something new and strange pops up. I really hate my body sometimes and all of the unnecessary worrying and pain it causes.

Well, on that note, my corn is thawing so I better dig in the freezer for some peas. I really hope this goes away soon.

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2 thoughts on “Swollen”

I am so sorry you are feeling scared and sick! I also feel this way, and understand that google can both be your friend and foe…if you have not had your thyroid levels checked (tsh, t3, t4) please do so..I hope that you get to feeling better speedy quick friend..positivity and light to you :) Annamarie

The internet can be a scary place. That is why I tell new patients to reach out to other RA bloggers first and no matter how experinced we are, we still have these moments. It is good to educate yourself but it is important to decipher the facts about the diseases from those that have nothing to do with it. You know the old phrase, “the more you know…” As you know from your experince, it doesn’t get easier, and we all still have these moments, but there are good moments too.